Easy beetroot wine

Disgusted and appalled by the thought of Nick’s pods and sods wine? Then make it a ‘Ruby Brews-day’ (or whatever day you choose) and ferment some of this surprisingly tasty pink beetroot booze.

First, chop up 3lb of your finest beetroots (in my case, secretly dig up Nick’s beetroots) and boil them using water from a full 1 gallon demijohn. Remove from the boil when they start to soften, but don’t turn them into mush. This should take around 35-40 minutes.

While the beets are busy boiling and stinking out your house, tip 3lb sugar, 1oz bruised ginger, the juice of a lemon, 6 cloves and the remaining water from the demijohn into a sterilised fermenting bucket.

Strain the boiled beets through a muslin cloth over your bucket mixture, then stir to dissolve the sugar. When the mixture is cool, add yeast and nutrient, cover and leave in a warm place, giving it a stir each day.

After three days, you’ll need to strain the mixture through muslin into an opaque demijohn and fit an airlock. When it clears, siphon into dark bottles. It’s important to try and use dark or opaque bottles and fermenting jars as the beetroot wine will turn a foul brown colour if exposed to sunlight, a bit like a Gremlin from one of those Gremlin films.

If you can’t get your hands on any opaque bottles, make like a park-bench tramp and wrap them in paper bags.

For more great drinks recipes…

Our book, ‘Brew it Yourself’, contains lots more easy booze recipes – from wines, ciders and beers to liqueurs, infusions and cocktails and even another idea for those beetroot – a Russian kvass. Available from most good book shops and Amazon.

Hi guys just a quick question once it’s stop fermenting and ready to be bottled up,do we have to add a campden before its bottled. Also im Nearly ready to bottle the pineapple wine I copied from your site the other month.

Hi Steve.
It’s advisable to add a campden tablet, but not essential. They can help stabilise the wine, just be careful you don’t hand your wine out to anyone with a sulfite allergy.
Best drink it yourself!

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